By: LARRY VAUGHT
When Kentucky needed Karl-Anthony Towns the most, the freshman center delivered at Georgia Tuesday night.
He had 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting, seven rebounds, one block, one steal and one assist in the 72-64 win that put No. 1 UK at 30-0 this season.
“I have enough confidence in him to go to him to shoot free throws. That’s how much I think of him. I know he has the courage and he has the skill and the ability, and that’s what we did, we went to him late,” said Kentucky coach John Calipari after the game.
There was only one “hero’s play” by Towns that the coach did not like.
“They double-teamed him and he had Tyler Ulis wide open and he ball faked. Why? And then he charged the guy. Throw it to the — don’t be a hero,” Calipari said. “That’s the thing he’s learning. Easy play. He is so good, you don’t have to do crazy stuff. Other guys do. They have to do crazy stuff to stand out. You don’t. Why are you doing it? But he was good.”
Andrew Harrison, who had 12 points, said Towns was “great” down the stretch for UK despite picking his fourth foul on the charge Calipari did not like. He got seven points after picking up his fourth foul.
“We had to do some stuff instead of him just playing mush-mouth and move people to get him in better space. Again, he’s a freshman. He’s just trying to do what he can do. And so we started moving them, swinging and then posting from there and that’s when they couldn’t really guard him,” Calipari said.
Harrison said what Towns did was no surprise.
“I think it just shows how talented his is. Really, he makes those post moves and stuff like that all the time, so it’s really not a big deal. Him and Aaron (Harrison) took over the game during that stretch and thank God we had them tonight,” Harrison said after the game.
Towns said the UK coaches told him to “keep going” after he got his fourth foul.
“I mean I’ve been in this situation about five, six times this year, so we had to make sure that I knew where I had to have my mentality,” Towns said. “They just trusted me with the basketball in my hands. And I, like I just said, went to moves that I knew I could make, especially with the game on the line and just glad I did. It’s a big thing, like I said, I wanted to win this game for my brothers more than myself. I am just glad I was able to go to my move (hook shot) and it was working.”
Towns said earlier close games — overtime wins over Texas A&M and Mississippi — helped prepare UK for a struggle like the one against Georgia.
“I don’t remember a game when we were actually down by so much in the second half. I think at (Texas) A&M we were down by not much, like six, four. Here we were down by 10 (actually nine). It’s games like this that we need, we need badly, especially going into tournament season,” Towns said.
“Teams are getting better every day just like we are. They’re learning new things. Every game we play they’re getting more tape to watch us. It’s just the way the season and the game is. At this point every team is getting better and we just need to be ready for any new challenges we’re faced with, any new tribulations we’re faced with, and also, we need to be more consistent. If we can do that, play the way we know how to play, we have a great chance at winning every game.”
Towns said UK’s unbeaten record was not why winning was important.
“We just fight for each other. Every time we step on the court we’re not thinking about ourselves, we’re thinking about our brothers, each other. And that really is the key ingredient to why I think we’re so well right now ‘cause we are so selfless,” Towns said. “And especially, I know people are going to say, well we’re fighting to be undefeated, and that’s absolutely not the case.
“We go on the court and we’re thinking about each other. When I’m on the court I’m thinking about Andrew (Harrison), I’m thinking about Willie (Cauley-Stein), I’m thinking about every single person on the court and the people on the bench. So, that’s why I think, what makes us so special.”